Like a highway, life is full of twists and turns. Some you may see before you arrive at them, others may catch you by surprise. Those that catch you by surprise often leave you with a gasp of angst and if you successfully maneuver the unexpected turn, with a breath of relief. We are coming through one of those unexpected turns in life right now, in 2020. Will you look back and say, “Whew, made it through that one.”? Or will you be able to look back and recognize the victories and successes you made personally through the time of pandemic and lockdown?
Driving an unfamiliar highway, these unforeseen twists can throw you into a skid or cause a crash. To avoid a skid and a crash, changes in your driving must take place. Back off the accelerator, press the brake, turn the steering wheel the exact needed angle. Before successes and victories can be had, changes must be made. Life’s highway requires the same. What changes did you undertake to be successful through this twist in the highway of life?
What have you learned through the changes you have made? Will you keep the changes in place? Will you return to the old ways of doing things in your life? Certainly, you are not going to change everything. But what have you learned through this pandemic that will move you to be a better person for the rest of your life?
Part of good driving requires an occasional glance in the rearview mirror. The rearview mirror never gives any indication of where you are going. Only what you have left behind. Yet, these glances in the rearview mirror are critical to safe driving. There is a reason your windshield is 72 times larger than your rearview mirror. Our focus is to be forward.
In the church, I believe pastors and members alike must glance in the rearview mirror on occasion. Not to live in the past, but to glance at what we’ve just come through. Coming out of this covid-19 twist in the road of life is one of these times.
With this glance in the rearview mirror, what has your church learned that will enable you to be The Great Commission church that God has Called you to be? What changes will you keep in place. How will you improve your serve for God? How will you be more Christ and the church written in the book of Acts, than you were 3 months ago?
Will traditions be dropped or changed to enable to be like the early Christian church, or will you reflect the church of the past 50 years – the church of the westernization of Christianity? I pray you and your church take seriously the challenge to become more like the church found in the book of Acts. It begins with prayer. There are plenty of passages to pray. Here’s one to begin with, Philippians 2:5-11.
God Almighty, Father, help me make my own attitude that of Christ Jesus, who existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be used for his own advantage. God forgive me, for I have used my position in Your family for my own advantage. As Christ emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, may I, by Your Holy Spirit, be emptied of myself and become a slave to Your truths, not only words, but in all action. Lead me to humble myself as Christ did by becoming obedient even to the point of death…
Until we, as a church, come to this point of humility and brokenness, can we truly become the body of Christ as God ordained. Life is a highway filled with twists and turns. It’s time to let Jesus take the wheel.
George Yates is an Organizational Health Strategist and coach, assisting churches, organizations, and individuals in pursuing God’s purpose for life.
